After being reborn, all I want to do is run away.

Chapter 353 Play hard to get

A day later, Shen Xu approached Ye Zhi and asked, "Xiao Zhi, can you do me a favor?"

"Of course I can, but it's unusual for you to ask me for help. Tell me, how can I help you?"

How many pill tickets do you have right now?

"I can have as many as you want," Ye Zhi couldn't help but laugh.

"Hiss~" Shen Xu didn't expect Ye Zhi to be so arrogant.

"No! I had Qiling Baihe set up a stall in the central square, and I hope you can come and support me," Shen Xu said with a smile.

"Shen Xu, are you kidding me?! Praying for the White Crane, setting up a stall? These two words together... I don't quite understand what you mean."

"You don't need to doubt it. I don't know what happened to it yesterday. Suddenly it wanted to earn money to buy red jade fruit on its own and didn't want to be your pampered child anymore. No matter how I tried to persuade it, it wouldn't listen."

But it didn't know how to make money, so I gave it an idea: let it sell its own wood carvings so it could earn its own living.

I reckon it's already at the central square with the wood carving. I'm worried something might happen to it, so I wanted you to go check on it and support its business while you're at it."

"Is it the same wood carving as Sister Bai and Sister Xiao Yi?" Ye Zhi's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this.

"Pretty much! Maybe even a little better than those two." He hadn't expected Ye Zhi to be so interested in the wooden carving of the Praying White Crane.

“Great! I’ll take the wood carving, and you don’t need to pay me back.” Ye Zhi said generously.

"No need! I'll have it send you one later. The Qiling White Crane is unwilling to lower its status, so it insists on selling that wooden carving for an exorbitant price. I couldn't persuade it otherwise, so I had no choice but to help it."

He can't cheat people he knows!

"Really?" Ye Zhi asked with great surprise.

"Of course! When have I ever lied to you?"

"Okay, I'll help you with this. Now, what should I do when I get there?"

"It's very simple. Once you get there, all you need to do is this..." Shen Xu said, a barely perceptible smile appearing on his lips.

The central square of Tianjian Mountain is even more lively than yesterday. As the story unfolds, the news that an extremely rare white crane left a mysterious wooden carving in the central square has reached the ears of many people.

Few who heard about this could resist the urge to come to the central square to see the wooden sculpture. Even some elders from the Sword Alliance came to the central square because of this.

As time passed, the central square gradually became crowded, but everyone still kept a safe distance from the vicinity of the high platform, for fear of frightening the white cranes that might return.

The white crane did not disappoint everyone's expectations. With a loud cry, it gracefully landed on the high platform again, then swept its indifferent eyes over the onlookers.

At this moment, Ye Zhi said to Li Xuan, "Sister Li, I want to ask you for a favor."

"Tell me!" A hint of curiosity appeared in Li Xuan's eyes. Ye Zhi rarely asked for anything on her own initiative.

“I know there’s a wooden sculpture of a white crane in the central square. I’d like to ask you to buy it for me.”

"A statue of a white crane praying for blessings?" Li Xuan couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"Okay! I'll go take a look, but how much are you planning to pay for that statue?"

"Ten thousand!"

"Uh... is there anything special about that statue? Ten thousand Nourishing Yuan Pills are no small amount," Li Xuan couldn't help but ask.

"That statue is a masterpiece, and its seller is quite special—it's a genuine white crane used for prayers!"

"What did you say?" A look of shock appeared in Li Xuan's eyes.

……

When Li Xuan arrived at the central square with a heart full of questions, she was stunned by the scene before her. Since she joined the Four Directions Sword Alliance, she had rarely seen so many people gathered in the central square.

Not only that, she also met many of the Sword Alliance elders she knew, which made her extremely curious about the Praying Spirit White Crane that Ye Zhi had mentioned and the wood carvings it sold.

“Yunyu, I’m not surprised at all that you’ve come to this place,” Li Xuan said with a smile as she approached Yi Yunyu.

"But it's strange that you came to this place." Yi Yunyu looked at Li Xuan with great doubt.

"I was asked to do this, so I had no choice. Besides, I'm also very curious about the legendary Spirit-Praying White Crane." Li Xuan turned her gaze to the high platform, and sure enough, she saw an extremely gorgeous and elegant white crane there.

"As expected, seeing is believing. The Qiling White Crane is indeed one of the noblest groups among the Feather Clan."

“Something’s not right. The edges of a purebred Spirit Crane’s feathers should be golden-red, but this one is golden. However, its crest feathers are golden-red. I don’t quite understand.” Yi Yunyu handed the drawing board to Li Xuan. The Spirit Crane on the drawing board was lifelike, with every detail perfectly rendered, and extremely realistic.

“This is your specialty. My knowledge of the Praying White Crane is just hearsay.” Li Xuan’s gaze shifted to the small Praying White Crane on the canvas, and then turned her attention to the high platform.

“I feel that the statue is better than your painting.” Li Xuan came to this conclusion after repeated comparisons.

“You’re not the first person to say that. This is the fifth one I’ve painted. I even went back to get paints, but none of them can compare to that statue. Who could have made such a statue?” Yi Yunyu couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged.

"More than the owner of the statue, I'm curious why the White Crane of Prayer brought a statue to the central square. Is it really looking for the owner of the wooden sculpture, or is it seeking someone to approve of it?"

Upon hearing Yi Yunyu's words, Li Xuan's expression turned somewhat strange, and she tentatively asked, "Could it be that it's meant to be sold for money?"

"How could that be! How could such an extremely proud creature as the Praying Spirit White Crane do something like buying its own statue? It's an insult to themselves! An insult to their race!" Yi Yunyu said, somewhat agitated.

“You’re right, but I want to give it a try!” Li Xuan said with a smile.

"No! What if you scare it away?" Yi Yunyu immediately stopped her.

“Even if I don’t go, it will still leave. You can’t stop it, and you can’t stop me either.” After saying this, Li Xuan transformed into a stream of light and arrived on the high platform.

Upon seeing this, the crowd in the square immediately erupted in commotion, followed by a series of reproachful voices. It wasn't that no one wanted to go up to the high platform, but rather that the white crane's calls had deterred many people.

They were all afraid that going up would scare away the white cranes and incur public wrath, but unexpectedly, someone actually dared to go up.

But seeing that the white crane didn't seem to intend to fly away, the crowd immediately quieted down, all wanting to see how things would unfold.

Li Xuan couldn't help but feel excited as she looked at the Qiling White Crane so close to her. She had only tried it as Ye Zhi had suggested, but she hadn't expected to actually get close to the Qiling White Crane.

This is a legendary auspicious beast; if we could gain its approval...

Shaking her head to banish inappropriate thoughts, Li Xuan carefully placed the golden pill ticket on the ground and pointed to the statue next to the Qiling White Crane, hoping to complete the transaction.

To her surprise, the white crane did not hand over the wood carving to her as she had expected. Instead, it let out a soft cry and then flew away from the platform.

Seeing this, everyone was a little confused, they couldn't figure out what the white crane that prayed for spirits meant.

Li Xuan gave a helpless bitter smile, "As expected, it won't work. Xiao Zhi is still too unrealistic."

However, many people present sensed something unusual in Qi Ling Baihe's behavior towards Li Xuan, as if Qi Ling Baihe's attitude towards Li Xuan was not as bad as it was towards others.

What makes her stand out the most is the pill ticket in her hand. Is it possible that she needs the pill ticket to get close to the Praying White Crane?